Officer investigated after traffic stop recorded

March 19, 2010

A Chicago police officer is under investigation after he was recorded cursing at and threatening a driver he had pulled over, officials said Friday.

The driver, who is Hispanic, asked why he was stopped, prompting the officer to say he "normally" tells people who ask that question it is because they are black, according to the recording obtained by WGN-TV.

Department officials believe that might have been a sarcastic remark. But it was just one of several alleged threats the officer made to the motorist and his girlfriend, they said. Neither wanted to be identified when contacted by the Tribune.

"He was swearing a lot, mistreating everybody (and) using the racial language," said the driver's girlfriend, who recorded the officer with her cell phone.

The officer has been reassigned to desk duty pending the outcome of an investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.

"The manner in which the officer and subject interacted was unacceptable," Police Superintendent Jody Weis said in a statement. "Officers are trained and expected to deal with these situations in a professional manner, free of unnecessary sarcasm."

The driver said the officer also told him that he would be arrested if he didn't give the officer "something." He took that to mean that the officer wanted a gun or drugs from him, the motorist said.

The officer initially pulled the vehicle over because it had tinted windows, a legitimate concern to officers, officials said.

The driver acknowledged his past gang affiliations and that he has a criminal record. But he said on this evening he was coming home from shopping with his girlfriend and not doing anything illegal.

"Because I live in a gangbanger neighborhood, automatically he's got to mess with me," he said.